NHL Free Agents 2020: Latest Buzz on Alex Pietrangelo, Red Wings, More

It sometimes takes tough decisions to bring back a star player. And the St. Louis Blues might be facing those this offseason as they try to retain top defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.

After spending the first 12 seasons of his career with the Blues, Pietrangelo is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. It's possible he will return to St. Louis, for whom he's served as team captain since 2016, but it might require the team to find a way to clear some salary-cap space.

Here's the latest buzz surrounding Pietrangelo and the Blues, as well as other teams' plans for the offseason.

How Can Blues Bring Back Pietrangelo?

When the Blues signed Marco Scandella to a four-year extension earlier in April, it helped shore up their defense for the foreseeable future. However, it also gave them less financial flexibility for the time being, which could affect their desire to sign Alex Pietrangelo to a new deal.

It's still possible that Pietrangelo will return to St. Louis for the 2020-21 season, but the Blues might need to make some moves. Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote the most likely scenario involves St. Louis trading goaltender Jake Allen and buying out center Alexander Steen.

However, Thomas added that this potential plan is far from a certainty: "If I've learned anything from nearly three years of covering the Blues, [general manager Doug] Armstrong is unpredictable. He could have several other potential scenarios that he's working."

Still, it seems likely that St. Louis is going to do its best to find a way to keep Pietrangelo, who is a two-time All-Star and helped lead the team to the Stanley Cup in 2019. And if the Blues can't, there will be plenty of other teams interested in the 30-year-old defenseman.

Potential Goaltender Targets for Red Wings

One position that the Red Wings may need to address this offseason is goaltender. Although Jonathan Bernier has had some success this season, Jimmy Howard struggled, so Detroit might add another goalie to pair with Bernier in its rotation.

Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press recently wrote that the Red Wings could likely use free agency to bring in a goaltender with none of their prospects yet ready to make an impact in the NHL. St. James listed Cam Talbot, Jaroslav Halak, Anton Khudobin, Thomas Greiss and Jacob Markstrom as potential free-agent targets who Detroit could pursue.

Although Braden Holtby and Robin Lehner will likely be two of the top goaltenders on the free-agent market, St. James doesn't think either could be a realistic possibility for the Red Wings. She wrote that Holtby "may not be interested in joining a rebuilding team" while also noting that he and Lehner could be out of Detroit's price range.

Of those potential targets, Markstrom may be the best one for the Red Wings to go after as he's the youngest at 30 and has been strong for the Vancouver Canucks the past five seasons. If Vancouver doesn't bring him back, then Detroit should try to bring him in.

What Will Devils Do in Free Agency?

While the Devils are set to have three first-round picks in the 2020 NHL draft, that likely won't be the only way the team makes additions to its roster this offseason.

Abbey Mastracco of NorthJersey.com recently wrote that she believes New Jersey will "grab a veteran winger or two to bridge the gap" until some of its young prospects are ready to make an impact in the NHL. The Devils have some strong forwards playing for Binghamton in the AHL, but they likely won't make the jump to the next level in the 2020-21 campaign.

In December, New Jersey traded left winger Taylor Hall, a former Hart Trophy winner, to Arizona, so it's easy to see why it might want to add a veteran presence on that side of the ice for the short term. It still has talented right winger Kyle Palmieri, so getting a scoring threat for the other side would make sense.

The Devils are set up well for the future with their prospects and their trio of first-round picks in the draft, but perhaps they will be competitive sooner than expected depending on the free agents they add this offseason.